"If I keep a green bough in my heart the singing bird will come."- Chinese proverb

Them and Us- Thoughts on September 11

Each morning as I do my prayers, after I have prayed for all those who have suffered
because of the September 11 attacks, I ask, "How can I BE the peace I want to see in
the world, today?" Not, how can I CREATE the peace- but how can I BE it- because it
becomes clearer and clearer to me that violence and war are not just "out there" but
also inside me. And being with the war inside me, taking care of that, is where I have
the most influence (although some days it's not much) and where I can do the most
immediate good. I believe that how we are ripples out. When I yell at my son for
breaking my tape recorder (again!) instead of sitting with my feelings of anger- the
war ripples outward. When I find a moment of calm, am able to be with myself and the
world as it is and be still- peace ripples outward. I have become more and more aware
of how our words, actions, attitude, demeanor, and thoughts either water the seeds of
violence or the seeds of real peace in ourselves and in the world.

And peace- the real internal peace of accepting completely what IS in the present
moment as simply what IS within myself and in the world, so I can hold it tenderly and
take the war our of it- is rare.

In the next few months I will be travelling extensively in the United States, speaking
and listening to Americas. It is a great priviledge and blessing to have the
opporutnity to do so. I will, to the best of my ability, offer people a place to be
with all of their own feelings about what is happening- to be with the anger or fear or
despair or grief- to hold these feelings like one holds a hurt child, to deeply BE with
themselves and see where that takes them.

But I am also going to offer to all of us a challenge- a simple practise in our
speaking-based on the premise that there is only one race, the human race. I find
myself physically wincing everytime I hear someone explain to me that "they" (the
Taliban)just don't value freedom, that "they" (the Americans) want to wrap themselves
in their flag and bomb somebody, that "they"(Americans or the Taliban, depending on who
is speaking) hate "our" way of life. It's not that some of the facts aren't accurate,
(although I think we claim to know far more about "their" feelings, motivations and
beliefs than we can possibly know unless we have actually sat and been with "them")-
it's that we are separating ourselves from a part of ourselves, drawing lines in the
human family that cause the separation that inevitably leads to (and has lead to )
violence and great suffering.

I am not asking myself, or you, or those I meet on the road to see the potential
terrorist in ourselves. That feels like post-graduate work and we are in kindergarten.
I am asking us to change our language to reflect the reality of being part of one human
family, to say "some of us" in every place where we might say "them"
(or "the Americans," or "the Taliban" or "the terrorists," or "the Muslim extremists".
. . )I'm asking you to try this with me and see what happens. Every time you find
yourself saying "them" and "us" try saying "some of us" and see what happens, no matter
how derrogatory the statement may be. I'm not even asking you to evaluate the truth of
your statements, only to consider that whatever we say about "them" is really about
"us" in that we are part of one race.

So- instead of "They (or the Taliban) hate democacy," it becomes "Some of us hate
democracy."

Instead of "They are crazy and filled with hate," it becomes "Some of us are crazy and
filled with hate."

Instead of "They want to mindlessly bomb someone and demonstrate their power," it
becomes, "Some of us want to mindlessly bomb someone and demonstrate power."

Instead of "They don't care who gets hurt so long as they get to live their lifestyle-
at anyone's expense," it becomes "Some of us don't care who gets hurt so long as some
of us get to live our lifestyle- at anyone's expense."

You get the idea.

I don't know about you but when I do this two things happen: First, I suddenly feel
very sad where I might have felt very angry- I feel great grief over the suffering we
cause ourselves. And second, hearing it this way, not excluding the other as something
other than another member of the human family, I want to ask, "Why?" I want to know
more, not less about what goes on in the hearts and minds of some of us that could
result in beliefs and feelings that seem incomprehensible to me. To say or hear, "Some
of us don't value freedom," confronts me with a statement that simply does not make any
sense. Why would some of us- any of us- not value freedom? And I realize that the truth
is probably closer to, "Some of us define and see freedom in a way that is different
than I have been taught to define and see it."And now I am open to more information,
wanting to understand what has and is happening in the hearts and minds of all of us.
This is not a solution to the world's problems. It's not even going to make us feel
better. But maybe - and I do mean maybe- it's a way NOT to close our hearts to the
other who seems to see things differently than I do .

Questions and Answers: Oriah Mountain Dreamer

In Chapter 1 of The Dance you mention that you wish you'd had the insight from the
Grandmother before you'd gone through the whole process of seven chapters. How did your
writing, your ideas, and insight change after the Grandmother's visit to you in your
dream? How has your life or your sense of your life changed since then?

Well, the Grandmother in the dream told me I was headed in the wrong direction. She
said, "The question is not why are you so infrequently the people you really want to be
but why do you so infrequently want to be the people you really are." And then she
answered the question saying, "Because you have no faith that who you are is enough."
And she continued, "But it is. Your true nature as human beings is compassionate, and
this essential nature makes you capable of being intimately and fully present. Who you
really are is enough." I have doubted, questioned and quibbled with this insight a
thousand times since that night but the truth is that I knew when she said it that it
was true and I also knew that it would change everything- what I was writing in the
book, how I lived my life and what I had to offer to others. If who we are is
essentially flawed then the task is to change, to transform our essential nature. But
if who we essentially are is enough, our task is to unfold, to become who we are.

Of course, you cannot help but ask- if my essential nature is this wonderful compassion
than how come I behave so badly some of the time? The Dance is my exploration of some
of the times when my actions are not directed by this essential compassionate nature.
It is an examination of how we can remember who and what we really are even when we are
frightened. If The Invitation was a declaration of intent, The Dance is about how to
live this intent in a human life.

The Invitation has been such a phenomenon, has its success changed your life at all?
Did it bring any unwanted consequences?

The success of The Invitation has brought change, and change- even when it is for the
better in many ways- takes some adjustment. It is lovely not having to figure out how
to hustle up the money for my son's unexpected school trip, or the increase in the
phone company's rates. It has given me the opportunity to focus on writing and then, as
the books come out, to travel and speak to many people. All this is good and I feel
very blessed. The hard part is really what is always hard- staying in touch with my
deepest self and maintaining my connection with that which is larger than myself in the
midst of a busy life. It's not so much that my life is busier but the form of the
busyness has changed and with new situations- like being on the road- I have to have
new strategies for making sure I carve out enough silence, enough time alone to do my
daily practises and stay deeply connected to who I am. I am learning now to do this in
the midst of a changing life.

What do you hope people will get from reading The Dance and how do you hope it will
have made an impact?

When I write a book my first prayer is that it do no harm, and I feel that in writing
The Dance I came very close to writing a book that could have done harm. Before the
Grandmother's insight and direction I was at risk of writing- out of the sincerest good
intentions- yet another book that would say to us all, "This is our problem. This is
what is wrong with each of us. This is what we need to change in order to live our
soul's intentions." I don't think the world needs another book urging us to move
faster, try harder, change more. I know I don't.

I hope that reading The Dance will give others a sense of their inherent nature as
compassion, will give us all a sense that who and what we really are is truly enough. I
also hope it will help us pay attention to how we lose this sense of ourselves and our
connection with that which is larger than ourselves so we can consciously cultivate
remembering who and what we are. I hope The Dance will be one of the many places where
we feel what the Sufi poet Hafiz calls the "encouragement of light" that helps us
unfold and be all we truly and essentially are.

What are the origins of your beautiful name?

Oriah was given to me by the Grandmothers in the dream many years ago when I was very
ill. It means, amongst other things, She Who Belongs to God. Mountain Dreamer is my
medicine name. It was given to me by a Native American shaman with whom I apprenticed.
He told me when he gave it to me that it meant, "one who likes to find and push the
edge."

I have some ambivalence about using this name in my writing and my speaking and I admit
to being as prejudiced as the next person. When someone comes up and introduces
themselves as Ophelia Morning Gloria I think, "Flaky!" which is pretty cheeky for a
woman who goes around using Oriah Mountain Dreamer. In my daily life I use my family
name, generally introducing myself as Oriah House.

In many interviews the first thing the interviewer says is, "Oriah Mountain Dreamer's
not your real name is it?" to which I reply, "Well, it's my real name alright. It's
just not my birth name."

The truth is that there are many cultures where the birth name is considered a
temporary and secondary name used for convenience until more can be seen and known
about the person's nature, gifts and role in the world. In spiritual communities- for
example, convents- new names are taken to indicate a major life change, or they are
given as a guide, something to challenge the person to be all they essentially are. So,
Oriah Mountain Dreamer it is.

Do you have any frustrations with the concept or term 'New Age' and its philosophy? How
do you see yourself within the 'New Age' framework?

I would use the term "New Age" in two very different ways. The first is a description
for the wide range of spiritual inquiry that has taken place outside the traditional
mosques, churches and synagogues over the last twenty-five years. As an umbrella term
for this search for spirituality outside the mainstream western religious traditions it
applies to everything from Buddhist meditation to crystal healing, from Sufiism to
angel communications, from shamanism to channeling.

Of course many of these things are not "new" at all but part of ancient traditions. I
would put myself and my own seeking within this community of those seeking their own
spirituality, although there are aspects of some of these methods I am clearly more
comfortable with than others.

The other way I would use this term is to define a more narrow set of beliefs that have
come out of all this exploration- a set of beliefs that I would call New Age
fundamentalism. They include things like- everything that happens, had to happen and
happened because you needed it for your spiritual development; or you create every
aspect of your own reality all of the time. These are beliefs I do not share and when
they are presented as The Truth I become very uncomfortable. They offer simply answers
for complex problems. I do not think we can know with certainty why many things happen
in our lives, although I do think we always have a choice about how to respond and we
can learn something- cultivate meaning- from all that does happen. I feel the task is
to keep our hearts open, to show up for all of life, without knowing with certainty why
everything that happens, happens.

And where will your next writing journey take you? Can you let us into any secrets
about the next book?

I always knew that this would be a trilogy. Shortly after finishing the manuscript for
The Dance I had a dream where I received the title of the next book, The Call. I have
had glimpses of where this next one will take me in my writing and my life- since I
tend to live these things in order to write them- but they are just glimpses at this
point. I do know that it is about our place in the bigger picture, our response to the
world's need, and our ability to hear and heed and go home to that which is larger than
ourselves.

Excerpts from An Interview with Thorson's, Oriah's publisher in Britain, New Zealand,
and South Africa.

Click above to view Oriah’s Blog, “The Green Bough.” She will post musings and meditations on cultivating our inner lives and co-creating meaning in the world, every Wednesday.

Books

To order or read an excerpt from Oriah’s books, click on the front cover

"A remarkable book. . . . A fierce and tender presence, The Invitation’s wisdom could become a lifelong companion, engaging and awakening the original and unique rhythm of your mind and soul."John O’Donohue, author of Anam Cara

"The Call. . . . is a gift to us from a wise, funny, and honest teacher who knows the territory of the human heart and soul like few others." Joan Borysenko, co-author of Your Soul’s Compass

"To read The Dance is to invite all of the far flung part of yourself. . . . back onto the dance floor for a slow, sweet waltz. At the end of the dance, you have whirled yourself back into one whole person." Elizabeth Lesser, author of Broken Open

A spiritual exploration and practical guide to unleashing your creativity.

The story of how Oriah's poem travelled the world and, unbeknownst to her,
touched people's lives.

Oriah On CD

Oriah’s Newsletter

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